Humpback at play in the Bay (pic courtesy of Ron,Tania, Duke & Sofia)

Winter is whale watching time in Victoria as Southern Right Whales (Eubalaena australis) and Humpbacks (Megaptera novaeanglidae) move from the Southern Ocean to warmer waters along the coast. The 2010 winter is reportedly one of the best yet for local sightings. Let’s hope it will continue to get better as both of these Endangered species gradually increase in number. The key concerns are to maintain suitable habitat and food supplies. They feed mostly on copepods, krill, and other swarming zooplankton.

The Southern Right Whale Recovery Plan (2005 – 2010) notes numbers are increasing, suggesting that habitats are not degraded. Logan’s Beach at Warrnambool is one of 6 known Southern Right whale calving areas scattered along the southern coastline from WA to Vic. The Australian population of Southern Rights is believed to be around 1,500, with less than 10% of those occurring east of Adelaide. So it’s quite a privilege if you spot one! The ‘eastern’ population may be more vulnerable to threats due to their lower numbers and the larger human population along the south east Australian coast.

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North Pacific Seastar - it's own worst enemy?

NPS’s tend to spend the summer months in the deeper, central Bay waters, and move nearer to shore in winter. Over the past 5 winters Earthcare volunteers have taken advantage of this seasonal migration to remove thousands of these pests from St Kilda harbour. The most recent cull, conducted today, found hundreds compared to the usual thousands; and young native seastars were noted.

Along with this promising result, several divers have reported not seeing NPS’s in the south of the Bay over the past year. Have they disappeared altogether, or simply eaten themselves out and moved to another area? Baykeeper is keen to hear any reports of NPS’s from around the Bay. Have you seen more or less this winter?

Caretta caretta (Loggerhead Sea Turtle) Photo taken by User:Strobilomyces at Océanopolis, Brest, France on 17th April 2006

Although Loggerheads (‘boofheads’ to their mates) are found in the Atlantic , Pacific and Indian Oceans as well as the Mediterranean. But few people have the privilege of meeting one on their occasional visit to Port Philliip Bay. Although they are believed to live more than 60 years and produce an average of 110 eggs per clutch, the species is Endangered, largely due to getting caught up in fishing gear such as trawls, longlines and gill nets. Mistaking floating plastic bags for jellyfish (a favourite turtle tucker) is also taking its toll.

The good news is that there are a heap of international strategies aiming to protect Loggerheads; and more and more people are realising that it’s really not that hard to avoid polluting our waterways with plastic gunk. Aren’t they?